During the second Google Hangout episode of Beyond Social Media, B.L. Ochman, Albert Maruggi and I discuss social media customer service in general and iStockPhoto's customer service in particular; the fallout over New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's stolen Super Bowl ring story; a bizarre, unsanctioned Tic Tac ad; Marriot's play for Millennials; in the When Things Go … [Read more...]

INBOUND VS. OUTBOUND MARKETING
Voltier Digital Infographic
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91% of people have unsubscribed from a company email they had previously opted into.
86% of people skip television ads.
84% of 25-34 year olds have left a favorite website due to intrusive or irrelevant advertising.
200 million Americans have registered on the FTC's … [Read more...]

That's a headline from yesterday's Help A Reporter Out email, a service to which reporters post requests for sources.
So, does the reporter need livers from DC that are greenish black? Black with green stripes? Why does a reporter want livers anyway, black, green or otherwise? And what's so special about livers from DC?
Does the reporter want a District of Columbia African … [Read more...]

Last April I wrote a post expressing my frustrations with the do-it-yourself email marketing options currently on the market. None included all the features I wanted in one perfect service. Specifically, no service had a workable RSS-to-Email-Newsletter function that would allow me to set and forget my blog post email updates.
Well, thanks to Pro Blogger, I think I found my … [Read more...]

Fred Smoot Tackles Steve Smith
Originally uploaded by bpatton
A friend of mine told me yesterday that Washington Redskins' and former Minnesota Vikings' cornerback Fred Smoot had been cut. I was skeptical. As a football nut, I follow NFL news quite closely, so had Smoot been cut it would have caught my eye and I surely would've known about it.
Turns out Smoot wasn't … [Read more...]

On Monday we launched AliShops.com, The Insider's Guide to Twin Cities Shopping. The site is the brainchild of Pioneer Press Savvy Shopper columnist Allison Kaplan, and features short, informative, and engaging reviews of Twin Cities neighborhood stores.
Graphic Design
The site had to be visually appealing, quick loading, easy to navigate, and, just as importantly, search … [Read more...]